Despite having read about the great dictator almost ad nauseum, I can honestly say there was something new for me in every chapter including research just recently unearthed from the shadowy Soviet archives. For example we learn from material originally deleted from Stalin's official doctor's report that he may have possibly been poisoned by Warfarin, a blood thinner that would have brought on the massive stroke that debilitated Stalin on the eve launching another massive purge of the nomenklatura that would have certainly finished off Beria, Molotov, Malenkov, Voroshilov and perhaps what was left of Soviet Jewry.

We read the unvarnished brutality of the deaths Stalin dealt out to victims, high and low, in minute detail as well as his maudlin sentimentality, icy callousness, sociopathic charm and gallows humor. Montefiore sheds light on the rythm and nuances of power relations that swirled and eddied even in the moments of Stalin's most absolute tyranny and is at pains to show Stalin at the times when he was left checked and frustrated by circumstance or by his underlings.

One of the best books in the field of Soviet history that I have read in years.

I have no time to read this massive tome until sometime in 2007, but I have listened to the BookTV interview of Simon Sebag Montefiore a couple of times. Sounds absolutely brilliant, and with your shining endorsement I am sure to pick it up in the future.

Well, it is the end of term and I have about 100 pages of writing due in the next 3 weeks. The thesis proposal for next year is due soon as well. I am lucky to have landed an advisor last week (after three failed attempts). This summer I will be doing a course on Special Operations and possibly be working at the Army's Directorate of Land Strategic Concepts (CV sent last week, knock on wood). On top of all this, the new wife and I are moving to a new apartment next month. Busy busy!